[This is a series describing the 12 Post-War American
Presidents from a British perspective.]
Richard Nixon had a long and eventful political career. It
was very uneven; early bright success and later sharp setbacks, stunning
foreign policy achievements countered by a vigorous Presidency ending in
humiliation and disgrace. Finally rehabilitation, earning him a place of
respect, if not affection, with the American people.
 |
| Richard Nixon |
Richard Milhous Nixon
(1913-94) was born into a poor Quaker family in Yorba Linda, California. When
the family ranch failed they moved to Whittier Ca, where he attended the local
college. His father ran a grocery store and gas station. Financial restraints
prevented Richard taking up an offered place at Harvard but eventually he gained
a full scholarship to respected Duke University Law School - Nixon graduated in
1937 and always spoke of his subsequent debt to Duke. He then practised law for
5 years in Whittier but in 1942 moved to a government job in Washington. This
Quaker upbringing gave Nixon a traditional, moralistic outlook and perhaps explains
his long friendship with evangelist Billy Graham.
Nixon set aside any residual Quaker pacifism (which would
have gained him exemption) by joining the US Navy in 1942 as US involvement in
WW2 developed. Nixon, a lieutenant, was mainly busy on logistical duties in the
South Pacific but did not see combat. On demobilisation, Nixon was chosen as a
Republican California candidate for the House and he won the 1946 election. He
became a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee and rose to
national prominence in 1948 by his persistent pursuit of senior State
Department official Alger Hiss, who was accused of being a Communist agent. In
a turbulent case, Hiss was eventually jailed for perjury in 1950, on
controversial evidence. In 1950 Nixon was elected to the Senate and in the
overwrought spirit of the times was a prominent anti-communist.
Nixon already had the insistent, vigorous look, the ski-jump
nose and the widow’s peak hairline later so familiar (the jowls came even
later!). His rich baritone voice was an asset but his eyes were darting and
unappealing. He was ambitious and hard-working yet socially awkward and
unrelaxed.
 |
| Nixon campaigns for the Senate in 1950 |
Coming from populous California, Nixon was a natural
candidate for the Vice-Presidential slot on the 1952 Republican ticket; his
youth complemented Ike’s venerable image. He was duly drafted and
with Republican sentiment growing the Eisenhower bandwagon gained momentum.
Suddenly Nixon faced a crisis. He benefited from an election expenses fund
provided by his supporters: this was legal but exposed him to the suspicion of
being under outside influences. The Democrats screamed foul and demanded he be
dropped from the ticket and the press was hostile. Eisenhower’s support was
lukewarm. Boldly Nixon hired a TV studio and broadcast an address seen or heard
by 60m Americans.
This was his famous “Checkers” speech; he denied any
wrong-doing, promising to return any gifts improperly received except one - a
spaniel puppy called Checkers which his 6-year-old daughter Tricia loved to
distraction. The US public was enchanted, support for Nixon flooded in and Ike
fully endorsed Nixon. It was a master-stroke even though Nixon glossed over the
substance of the complaint against him. Nixon thereafter always favoured TV
reporters to those from the written press who, he bitterly believed, only
sought to traduce him.
Ike and Nixon won the election comfortably against Stevenson
and Sparkman. Nixon was, unlike previous V-Ps, given real responsibilities. He
deputised for Ike at Cabinet, during Ike’s frequent absences; he chaired
various committees and he was sent on many overseas trips, deepening his
soon-to-be extensive knowledge of foreign affairs. In Latin America he was well
received in Mexico but spat upon in Venezuela and his vehicle attacked by a
pipe-wielding mob in Peru. He visited Indo-China and Africa. In Moscow in 1959
he famously confronted an aggressive Khrushchev in the “kitchen debate” when
hosting a US exhibition there, giving a feisty performance.
 |
| Nixon and Khrushchev cross swords in 1959 |
Nixon was a natural choice as Republican Presidential
candidate in 1960. He chose ex-Senator Henry Cabot Lodge as his running mate
and he was pitted against Jack Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. The election was
very close: Kennedy squeaked in with only a 0.2% winning margin in the popular
vote, and some dubiously honest results from Texas and Illinois. Nixon erred in
wanting to campaign in every state and not concentrating on the “swing” states;
he also did not do himself justice especially in the first TV debate with JFK.
His reluctance to use make-up resulted in him looking pasty-faced and famously
with “5-o’clock shadow”. His defeat was a shattering personal blow.
Nixon then endured some wilderness years. In 1962 he ran for
Governor of California, rather unenthusiastically and was defeated by the
incumbent Pat Brown. He seemed to indicate that he was leaving politics when he
told reporters that this was “his last press conference” and that “they would
not have Nixon to kick around anymore”. But he shook off this paranoid and
self-pitying mood. He moved to New York, joining a leading legal firm. In 1964
he loyally campaigned for Barry Goldwater and was not blamed for the ensuing
Democratic landslide. He gained further Republican credit by campaigning during
the 1966 mid-term elections when his party made a comeback. By 1967 he had
decided to run again for the Presidency in the 1968 election.
 |
| Nixon in typically combative mood |
 |
| Nixon makes his point |
The 1968 election was a highly dramatic one. In January, LBJ
only narrowly won the New Hampshire primary and decided not to stand again.
With Bobby Kennedy assassinated in June 1968, the Democrats drafted liberal V-P
Hubert Humphrey as their candidate in their Chicago convention, marred by
violent anti-war demonstrations outside. The Democrats were further
disadvantaged by Governor George Wallace of Alabama standing on a
segregationist ticket.
Nixon was easily enough nominated and added Governor Spiro
Agnew of Maryland as his vice-president to attract moderate Southerners. He
offered the electorate stability in a tumultuous world and he beat Humphrey and
Muskie by a very slim percentage of the popular vote but convincingly in the
Electoral College; George Wallace and General Curtis LeMay carried 5 states in
the Deep South.
Nixon faced a multitude of problems. Although the Moon
landings took place on his watch, his glory was largely reflected and he cut
back NASA programmes drastically. Big spending days were over and the US felt recessionary
pressures. A momentous decision was taken to abandon the 1946 Bretton Woods
system in 1971. The dollar floated, as did most other key currencies and
convertibility into gold was ended. The international financial community rode
this shock confidently.
Nixon had a strong interest in foreign affairs. After
initially intensifying the Vietnam War by bombing Cambodia, he decided to wind
down US military participation. Anti-War sentiment was clamorous and the tragic
shootings of 4 demonstrators at Kent State University, Ohio, polarised opinion
further. In close consultation with his National Security adviser and later
Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, Nixon sought to improve relations with
China and the USSR partly in the hope they would pressurise Hanoi to negotiate
an end of the War. After clandestine diplomacy, Nixon announced his visit to
Beijing and it duly took place in 1972. He briefly met the ageing Mao but had
more substantive discussions with Zhou Enlai.
 |
| Nixon toasts Zhou in 1972 |
Nixon and Kissinger were adept at the practice of Realpolitik. Recognition of Red China
and steps towards normalising relations between the two giant powers
predictably caused consternation in Moscow which always feared “The Yellow
Horde”. The communist world had been neatly divided to the benefit of the US
and the West.
 |
| Nixon confers with Kissinger |
Nixon had a series of
3 summits with Russian leader Leonid Brezhnev and struck up a friendly
relationship. He persuaded Brezhnev to participate in the SALT talks, limiting
the deployment of ruinously expensive nuclear weapons. A treaty eventually
emerged. The US/USSR relationship was however no love-in, as during attempts to
end the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War in 1973, Russia threatened to intervene
unilaterally and Nixon ordered a full-scale nuclear alert before Brezhnev
backed down. The crisis sparked off an Arab oil embargo, damaging to Europe
more than to the US. Reverting to an
earlier persona, Nixon deplored Marxist Allende in Chile and was not sorry to
see him deposed and killed in Pinochet’s violent coup in 1973. Nixon negotiated the “Vietnamisation” of the
War and the Paris Peace Accords of 1974 marked the rather undignified
withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam. However, a nightmare had ended to great
US relief. Nixon handled these matters with exemplary single-mindedness. Meanwhile
in 1972 Nixon and Agnew had brushed aside the challenge of McGovern and Shriver
(who only won DC and Massachusetts) at the Presidential election. Nixon was at the height of his popularity but
Nemesis was at hand.
In June 1972, 5
individuals were arrested after a break-in at the offices of the Democratic
National Committee at the Watergate complex in DC. This triggered off an
agonising saga as the finance had been provided by Republican sources and the
suspicion arose that the White House knew of the break-in. Over the next two
years, people close to Nixon were implicated notably his Chief of Staff HR
Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, domestic affairs assistant and White House Counsel
John Dean, all three of whom later received jail sentences. Nixon denied all
prior knowledge but a special prosecutor was appointed to investigate. When it
was later revealed that all conversations in the President’s office were taped,
the tapes were sub- poena’ed and
despite Nixon pleading executive privilege, were turned over to the prosecutor.
The tapes clearly showed that Nixon had sought to obstruct the investigation
contrary to all his duties. To make things worse the tapes showed a low level
of dignity by the President with the language being that of the barrack-room,
not that of the Friends’ Meeting Room of his Quaker upbringing. For his abuse
of power, Nixon faced almost certain impeachment and removal by both Houses of
Congress. After many private discussions Nixon resigned the Presidency in
unprecedented fashion on 9 August 1974. This unedifying event was a total
humiliation for Nixon although he kept up a brazen face.
 |
| Nixon leaves the White House to avoid impeachment |
Nixon was succeeded by Gerald Ford (Spiro Agnew had been
obliged to resign earlier as vice-president as he faced bribery and tax evasion
charges). To save the nation further embarrassment and heart-searching Ford
gave, and Nixon accepted, a full Pardon for any wrong-doing, a controversial
concession at a highly charged moment, but probably wise.
 |
| Gerald Ford announces a Pardon for Nixon |
Nixon was in disgrace for several years but gradually he
worked his way back to some kind of respectability. He wrote on foreign affairs,
travelled widely and his expert tours
d’horizon were valued at conferences. He attended public occasions with
other ex-Presidents. He maintained his innocence of orchestrating Watergate but in
famed TV interviews in 1977 David Frost squeezed a reluctant apology from Nixon
to the American people for the trauma he had inflicted upon them.
It cannot be said that Nixon became a national treasure; he
had sullied his high Office too much by his criminal behaviour. It was never
possible to transform “Tricky Dicky” into Richard the Lionheart. Yet memories
are mercifully short and the American people are generous. Many preferred to
remember his general domestic competence and his real foreign affairs triumphs.
A deeply flawed but patriotic man, Nixon died aged 81 after a stroke in New
York in 1994, soberly honoured by his fellow-countrymen.
SMD
19.09.14
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2014
